Rise of the Internet and desk-based jobs have been blamed for the latest in a line of joint ailments dubbed as 'office-knee', a UK study has found.

Researchers found that more than a quarter of workers in UK are suffering from painful knee joints and doctors have attributed this to rising levels of obesity and desk-based jobs across all age groups.

Those over the age of 55 suffer the most, with one in ten questioned claiming they are in constant pain, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

Almost a quarter of 1,600 workers aged 16 to 65 said they have been living with pain for up to two years.

Sammy Margo, a spokesperson for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said the rise of the Internet and desk based jobs are to blame for the phenomenon of 'office knee'.

"I have seen a huge surge in the number of people with knee pain and it is down to the sedentary lifestyle people are leading now.

"It is very much people with desk based jobs, and some of them have been working for ten to 20 years in these roles. I have been a physiotherapist for the past 25 years and in that time we have had the advent of the Internet, which has been very much a factor," she said.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Ronan Banim said that surgeons are seeing knees that are "literally being crushed" by excess weight.

He warned that if the levels of obesity continue to increase, the number of people who need knee replacements is likely to "go through the roof".

"To minimise the potential risks of getting knee pain, people who are becoming more active should look at pre and post activity warm-ups and downs, wearing good trainers and supporting the joint when exercising," Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director at Nuffield Health, added.